Utah trip shines light on mountain town operations

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Officials from several key Lake Tahoe agencies embarked on a trip to Park City, Utah, last week to catch a glimpse at how another mountain town operates and manages its major challenges.

For about three days, participants had the chance to explore several facets of the city, including public transportation, parking issues, a variety of community- and tourism-based projects.

“Park city was selected as a mountain destination with a lot of similarities to our own to basically go meet leaders and share their best practices,” said Carol Chaplin, executive director of the Lake Tahoe Visitors Authority, “and to look at some of the projects they had done on behalf of the community and on behalf of tourism and see if there were any things we could learn from them and bring back.”

TahoeChamber, in partnership with the North Lake Tahoe Chamber, spearheaded this year’s Trek to Park City, which took place April 2-5. Chaplin estimated about 20 people from the Lake Tahoe and Truckee areas went on the trip.

Among the attendees were: Brooke Laine, mayor pro tem of City of South Lake Tahoe; Betty “B” Gorman, president and CEO of TahoeChamber; Norma Santiago, a supervisor for El Dorado County; and Lisa Granahan, economic vitality manager for Douglas County.

Vail Resorts and Barton Health also were represented on the trek.

The first day of activities began April 3. After an overview of the destination in the morning, the group set out for a tour of the downtown district, which has been revitalized since the days of the mining era into a “very charming, pedestrian-friendly and vibrant area,” Chaplin said.

Other activities during the next 48 hours included riding on the city’s public transit, meeting with city leaders and discussing how to elevate health and wellness and the performing arts in Tahoe.